Thursday, November 20, 2014

Beyond the crafting and selling of items there are many aspects to being a maker-of-things that I absolutely did not expect but so enjoy.

At the top of that list is the connection and interaction that develops with many of our customers. The exchanges that go on beyond the transaction are often born out of the desire to share stories or experiences or just random thoughts on the world of faeries and possibilities. And these can create longstanding bonds that may extend for months or years.

I have grown to love and cherish these interactions so much.

Once in awhile we also are given the chance to share thoughts and messages that seem "fairy-sent"
and such was the case today when one of our customers, who recently purchased a fairy house from us, was remarking that she did not feel fairy spirits were likely present in her own home due to something she does that she believed would be a detraction to fairy spirits.

Because this "something" falls into the category that I would consider to be purely modern "human ideals" and more specifically a cultural idealism of the last 20 years or so, I felt inspired to send the following along to her. . . by the way, her message ended with the question "Are you truly believers?"

The reply:

Oh we are true believers!

And let us say that we do not think fairies discriminate against certain "earthly",human ideals There is, in the heart, something greater than human idealism that fairies are drawn to and, we believe, that intangible energy and heartfelt awareness is what creates that fairy presence around us.

Openness and a compassionate, welcoming heart. The desire to revisit or resurrect that magic of childhood or of any period of one's life where possibility and imagination ruled or were in our awareness. Even just the desire or the need to know that we are not alone here. . . . all of these things are, in our experience, the true portals to visitations and fairy magic.

There is an old ctale, Gaelic or Celtic I believe, that speaks of the "little man". A sprite who tends to move objects and personal items to places the owner realizes are out of place and often just moments after they have been set down! Even this type of sprite, which is among the most common of the "visitations" humans receive is usually presented to someone for reasons we cannot always fathom. But "they" know we are in need of some magic in this world and so it may appear in many different ways. Gentle nudges to our consciousness. . .

In YOUR world and your home, just be open to whatever comes and presents itself as a sign. The simplest things really. . . occurrences that you may have not even given a thought to before can be recognized as these visitations and signs. . . just stay open to the possibility as all of them are the doorways to deeper wonder and possibility. All of them come with no strings attached. . no more of a "price" than our belief and the space made in an open heart.

Perhaps even a message like this, though flown through the cyber-spaces from our fingertips, may in fact originate somewhere else and is "given" to us to pass along? Who can say really. . .

We hope THAT magic and possibility is what you find in everything that you see. ;)

nicolas

Now, I LOVE writing such messages. I love pulling people back to this side of the landscape and horizon. Sometimes I think it really is about just giving people permission to open up and believe.

That's what it took to get me to a place, after so many years, of believing I deserved to do what I do and be a maker-of-things and that I could be a vessel for that magic to enter this world. Now it seems like I cannot imagine a time when I did not know this or believe it as such. . . but it took countless gentle and not so gentle budges and impressions. Moments of being "steered" one direction or another to keep me on the path.

I have known since I was a child that I was indeed "watched over".

Once or twice in enormously life altering ways and then again, in dozens of those slight, imperceptible changes of direction along the way too.

And the purpose is, in my way of seeing it, always small. I was, for years, too caught in the grandiose ideals of my own life and purpose and not ready to see that the simplest and most natural of our abilities are often the roots of the greatest purpose we may have.

Thank you faeries for all the love and guidance in all the forms presented thru these years.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Finally getting these little gems out for the holiday too! I have made larger HO scale windmills for the past few years but really wanted to perfect these little ones for terrariums and indoor fairy gardens. I think this is the one! I already have a claim laid on this first one but am making three more this week. :) Of course, one can imagine the little spirits that would inhabit such a place, yes? And there is alegend in the listing about "turning mills" and how the helped a rather desperate bunch of fairies plot their freedom from a very still and un-magical imprisonment. :)

Monday, November 10, 2014

Even with the holiday coming far too quickly and custom requests piling up, I always make sure to take time and set it aside to create and finish pieces that are simply what my heart desires. Feeding the soul this way is the most important thing to avoiding any sort of burnout or the burden of overwhelming to-do lists and custom work. Nothing inspires me more than those precious hours. . .

The first piece is one I showed in progress awhile back but it sat here just waiting for the finishing inspiration. Those finishing touches came in the form of the two bluebirds and the treasure of "gold coins" and "jewels" in the tree hollow.

Dreamweaver Series #1

The bluebirds are made completely from polymer clay and no painting! A first fo me but I enjoyed the process

Also I undertook a redesign of my Onegai (Wish Granting) Jizo statues. I recently went back and looked at the evolution of these little statues over the last four years. Yikes! The first ones were really cute but so "rough" by comparison. I love the tiny, rotund bodies on these and the fact that the little bells on the hat actually tinkle! :) Definitely a Wish Granting form if ever I saw one! :)

Anyway, that's all for today but in the next few days I am excited to show you the first version of my hand-bound fairy journal! Includes foldout maps on the end pages, pressed flowers and lots of wonderful elf illustrations! All in a very magical 2" x 2.75" size:)

Thursday, November 6, 2014

So, not even a week into November and the holiday rush is here. . . I am inundated with custom orders already and it's still pretty early. . . . to make things seem even more off track this comes on the heels of a week long trip back to my childhood home.

This always stirs so many things inside.

I am, of course, thrilled to see my mother who, in her 80's is not going to be traveling across the country to see me any time soon. And, those of you who have read my blog probably know that I had a magical and very inspired childhood. . . so that should be a wonderful thing to return to, right?

Well, not always.

Here's the thing. . . there is, undoubtedly, a very strong pull to the landscape of my youth but, every time I return, I am reminded how lucky I was to have traveled and explored the larger world before settling into myself in my 20's. I imagine this is a fact of growing up in any strong cultural area but, when I return, more than the nostalgia of my childhood, there is the reminding of the angst of my teen years and the fact that often haunts me is this.

If I had not "gotten out" all those years ago, I would likely never have found my way to the work or the life I have now. So for all of the wonder of immersion back into those fields of imagined wonder, I struggle with the painful reminders of how limiting life there might have been if I had stayed. While most kids in their late teens and early 20's in that neighborhood were partying on the slag heaps of the abandoned steel mills or sitting on the train trestle, feet dangling 50 feet above the river, with liquor bottle in hand, I was working double shifts at an Italian restaurant saving money like mad for my first trip to Europe. A trip that changed my view on life forever. A trip that set me aside from that neighborhood and left me on the outside looking in forever more.

For the few friends of that childhood who I visit with when I return, when we see each other it is like no time has passed. They exclaim time and again "nicolas, you never change" and that, when I am home, they FEEL as if they are 12 again too. Funny to me because I am the one who really changed. .. . yet those times, when I return, are still as they were and not muddied with another 30 years of adulthood in the same landscape. Perhaps that is why, when I go home, I am able to pick up those days right where I left them?

I imagine there WILL come a day when I will be too old to throw that Nerf football around or chase wiffle balls and fireflies. When an excursion through the woods will be best left to manicured paths and level ground. When the lure of those earliest creations and indulgences in imagination will fade to the background. . . but it's hard to fathom now.

The hardest part of those trips back is that, in the time I have alone there, I find myself craving to also return to the games of my days spent in solitude. Which were many and more than those spent with friends.

In my youth, I and my imagination were always best on our own. That's changed too of course, and for the better, but in those days I looked forward to nothing more than the hours undisturbed to dive into the creations and games and worlds that lived only in my own head.

And those, as an adult, in that landscape, are harder to recapture. Maybe it's adult self consciousness or just a reverence for something I know can never be relived?

So I return to the here and now and the myriad of new worlds I have created and share with like souls out there. That I share here with you.

It's every bit as good as those days and, for the adult in me, it's better for the soul.

But the child is there too, neve changing, never far away.
Smiling and dreaming
At home
Eternally and blessedly unchanged
and always
young. . .

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Three items, all reinventions of older work with new ideas, techniques or stories / themes.

Have wanted to revisit these little guys for a year now. Originally called Grumpusses, they were garden or terrarium trolls who were, well, rather Grumpy. I believe i made 6 of the originals and they all sold but I knew I had to evolve their story. . .

Now these new editions are called Grumpus Garden Gnomes and, while they are NEVER grumpy with their human companions, they ARE quite grumpy with each other as each sort of sees itself as the self proclaimed "King of the Fairy Vegetable Garden". This guy, who obviously favorites fairy carrots, has gone so far as make his own crown to claim the :throne" which,of course, is completely disputed by the Bok Choy, Radish and Cherry Tomato Grumpus gnomes who all have their own crowns. . . I recommend owning more than one only if you are up for the role of peacekeeper in the fairy/gnome realm too.

Still needs some inclusions in the "moss coat" and some sort of cuffs and bottom "hem". . . and a name. . . King Carotene perhaps?

These guys are 3 inches tall and perfect for little terrarium and fairy gardens.

Next is a new rendition of my wall-hanging pieces. I've done little villages and fairy scenes but, again, wanting to get more into figurines and art dolls, I came up with this idea for little scenes.

The bamboo box is 6x6 and the little sweet dreaming elf is just 3 inches long. Still want to ad something in the tree's knothole and along the branch.

So sweet sleping among the tulips and the mushrooms! Of course, this will have to wait for the final story to be written too.

And lastly, this is the second edition of my Fairy Houses of Giddings Hill. Giddings comes from the street that ran along my childhood home bordering a lovely dense wooded hill. These will come in 6 pearl colors and have different windows and adornments as they are developed.

My favorite part of this house is the winged accent with the crystal at the point of the roof!

These are around 4 inches tall and 2.5 inches wide!

Hope you enjoyed these sneak peeks into some new work and the constant path of reinvention I like to indulge in with my creations!

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Here it is the first eek of October and I have barely been able to find time to create an "seasonal" work for the shops. Even pieces I already had designed, like the Mini Halloween Tombstones below which debuted last year, have taken a back seat this year.

OK, NEXT year I am going to ROCK these!

Just created this pair for a customer! Love the Ghoul Hands!

This one began the entire series last year. Back in 2002 I had made many of these, in full size, for a Halloween Yard display which many tiny kids were too scared to walk thru to get their candy! So when they DID brave the walk, they got handsomely rewarded for their efforts in candy! mwahahahahaaha

I am not sure how I feel about this. . . it is beginning to feel a bit like a lost season in some ways. . . Halloween and Christmas/Winter are my two favorite times of year to create specifically for but I continue to find myself bound by custom work and requests. . . as well as my own ever-expanding range of ideas. Oh it's a sweet dilemma to have . . . that's for sure! :)

Today is the first time in weeks I have the entire day to do as I wish. . . and I am going to focus on new items and not worry so much about the holidays. I have four very specific things I wish to create that I am focused on.

One is a series of 6x6 Fantasy Wall Hangings/Shadow Boxes (ok I know I need to come up with something a little more easy on the tongue there) I have an entire series in mind but am about 40% thru the first iteration: An Elf sleeping under a large tree, a Dutch windmill scene in the background and tulips, spell books and other miniature delights all around him. (Pictures soon I promise!)

Two: I am creating little 3" x 6" Fortune Tellers like the old arcade versions you'd plunk a quarter into to receive your fortune. This will feature the Upper body arms and hands of the fortune teller herself, tiny cards, crystal ball and more. . . all displayed in a bamboo shadow box display as well.

Three: Reviving my series of Grumpus figurines. There are plant/terrarium dwelling creatures with huge feet and noses (they are in fact, mostly head hands and feet!) and very grumpy looking expressions. I am shrinking them in scale so that they better fit all houseplant environments..So these will be about 3" tall or half the size ofmy older ones.

Four: A new series of pearlescent fairy houses called "The Fairy Houses of Giddings Hill" with half stone facades, dark rooftops and lots of lovely accents. . . .

And last, after actually following though with my blog (for the most part) the month of September I am going to take that exercise of writing a 10 minute blog each day ( I manages 23 posts in September I believe!) and apply it to an idea that I know, if I do not make time for, I will deeply regret and likely never get started on if I wait for the "perfect time" and that is to begin constructing the fantasy book/novella I have been compiling ideas for for the last year. No working title yet but lots of bits and pieces. So, ten minutes a day writing/fleshing out ideas/drawings etc etc. I'll use this blog as a way to stay focused by posting snippets, maps and images and chapters on occasion. ALL feedback will be greatly appreciated. As with anything I have created, it begins with a selfish desire to simply make it happen and bring it into the world. I have no attachment to what happens beyond that. I'll self publish it I am sure, at first, Maybe even self bind a few dozen special editions of it when it is completed. . . .we'll see.

Thank you to all of you who read some of the September posts and those dear friends who commented here and there!

The rest of the year looks busy . . . if not with holiday delights then with new ideas and continued growth in my own form and paracosm of expresion. :)

Sunday, September 28, 2014

With no television in the home, we often have no idea what is going on in the world of entertainment but on occasion, we do find a show or two that absolutely thrills and inspires us. A simple Netflix account lets us keep up with old and new favorites, ( Dr Who, The Hobbit, Larkrise to Candleford, documentaries etc etc) but every once in awhile we come across a gem.

The latest of these is the network series "Once Upon a Time" which weaves the characters of every fairy tale ever told into one story. I had my doubts. . . trying to modernize fairy tales can be like stepping on sacred ground. . . and often is poorly done. With the exception of some pretty noticeable CGI effects the show is really intriguing and solidly done (though one could argue even the CGi "works" as the scenes using it all take place in the old fairy tale realm and, hey, everyone can't have the Game of Thrones budget!). The character or Rumpelstiltskin/Mr Gold is truly the anchor of the show. You might recognize the actor from roles in The Full Monty and Trainspotting. . . but he takes the character of Rumple to a new level and carries the weight of trying to tell such a tale very well.

It is so delightful to watch a "fantasy fiction" show that is not focused on death, misery, war and gruesome effects. And to see the old fairy tales brought into a new, modern light is the most inspiring part to me. Like any show, it takes time to build such a world so the first five or six episodes take a little patience to let it develop (something I am amazed at when a show is actually given that time these days) but here it is two full seasons in and beginning a third. . . and I find it interesting that the show's viewership has declined each season after a really strong start.

And that, my dear friends, is the real point of this post. . . It's hard to build a lasting fairy tale, let alone watch one every week. . . it somehow makes perfect sense to me that, over time, a show like this might not have the staying power to hold ever-decreasing attention spans. And perhaps, most of all, the idea of a short, classic fairy tale is more alluring than the drawn out reality which all tales eventually become without the viewer or the person experiencing it, making the effort to see it through. . . just as in real life. Making life magic is more than a short jaunt. . .it's a journey of the heart and soul and one that requires complete investment of us to make it a reality.

That's magic
That's life. . .

And as the dark and devilish Rumpelstiltskin says often in this production; "Magic, always comes with a price."

And maybe the truth is that most, in our modern fairytale seeking world, just aren't willing to pay that price.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Last week I received a message from a customer asking what inspires me. . .

I must have answered this question a couple of hundred times over the last 20 or so years throughout all of my creative endeavors.

But this time as I went to respond, I had a little epiphany. There used to be some "things" and things here meaning external input, that inspired me. While this certainly remains true, I had to really think before answering because, after all these years, the external is now internal and the inspiration is now a part of everything in my world.

This was, I should say, a very conscious decision.

These days and, shall I say, for the last five years or so, I have been weeding out anything from my life that is simply not inspiring. I do not read books or watch anything visually that does not fit into the world of imagination and what I create.

People too. . . be they Etsy folks I follow or friends in the flesh. . . I've always had very strong boundaries about what got into my inner world and while people are the hardest to master in that regard, I have had that down for awhile now too. Not a minute is spent with anyone who does not understand, appreciate or add to my creative world. Of course, there are the unavoidable times when the car needs fixed, the groceries need bought or the door needs answered for deliveries. . .but other than those sort of encounters, it is a very small circle of people who get in.

The point of this all is really just to say that I have made my entire world a source of vibrant inspiration. I have left no time, no room and no reason for anything else. The results, I must say, are that I am as happy a creative soul as I have ever been. Life gets better each day and all I could ask for is more of the same each day going forward.

So now the answer to what inspires me is simpler than ever.

Everything around me.

And if I could give one gift to anyone else it would be to say you have the universe's permission to do this too!!

nicolas

And maybe that happiness is why this fellow, another commission I finished yesterday, though He is the God of Chaos, has a rather satisfied and almost "cute" look on his face. . .

Sunday, September 21, 2014

When I was a boy, age 14, I walked into my first New Age bookstore. A little, literal, back-alley shoppe of enchantment called "Sign of Aquarius Books". I was, for lack of a better word, "searching" for answers to something that had happened in my life when I was 7 that no normal or spiritual/religious explanation could possibly explain. So, here I was, 7 years later still seeking answers when I stepped through the old, bell-laden, victorian door and into the shop.

No bigger than a modern studio apartment, the place felt cozy and inviting to me as soon as I set foot inside. This was not the typical soon to be cliched "new age store" of the 90's with all the trappings and merchandise galore. . . no, this was the old school, throwback, specialty book store that once thrived in this world when uniqueness and niche selling was part of the brick and mortar world. There was one room off of the main room and I heard voices in there so I assumed it was an office/storage etc and proceeded to begin browsing the shelves.

I was fascinated by the books I saw on topics I had never even heard of. I might have been wandering for 5 minutes or so before I heard a voice say, "Helo dear, is there anything we can help you find?" I turned to face a short, stout, beaming silver haired woman in her 60's, her eyes so alive. . .. and her husband who was also short and stout and rosy cheeked. I smiled and shyly said, "Umm, no . . . I just was . . .. looking. . . " but that sentence did not end as a statement but as an unfulfilled expression. The couple both smiled and the woman said, "Well, if you have any questions, I will be right over here but take your time and enjoy"

Oh, I did. . . I think I may have spent hours that day sitting on the floor leafing thru books on everything from Taoism to Tarot to Guardian Angels and Fairies.

My mind was alive with the symbolism and possibilities within. . . and while I may not have found my answer then and there, I definitely walked into a place that allowed me to explore and dream. One of the few outside of my home world that did so and, as was often the case in my life, one that I would come to look back upon as a small but important event.

I feel, with a nod to my guardian Angel loving Grandmother, that I have been "watched over" since I was a child. . . though I have come to see it, thru my own passing of the years, as an unbroken connection to something inherent. Not an external force that helps and aides but an internal one that, if we remain true to it and do not get so caught up and lose ourselves in THIS so called reality around us, will serve us infallibly until the end of time.

It's what we all know before we are "taught" anything here. Before our parents realities and those of the ghost world around us take hold. It has saved my life on occasion and has always guided me back to creativity and self fulfillment no matter what turn I took off the path.

That turn, down an old alley, into Sign of Aquarius, was a gift at the age of 14. That's a time when teenagers can be wholly consumed by their internal angst, lack of self comfort and incessant desires to "fit in" and yet I was turned outward and into new mysteries to indulge in and to digest. They took me deeper within. . . past all the bullshit of peer pressure and "coolness" and pop culture and steered me back into my own imagination. Sign of Aquarius, in our high proced realty-crazed, big box store nightmare, is long gone. But inside, it remains alive and that dear couple, then angels in my midst, are forever with me again.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

I have been working with these for a quite awhile now. . .changing the construction constantly and finally feel I have a form and size I love. They're 5 1/2 inches tall and the sea glass spheres comes in five colors and the finish in copper (as shown) as well as brass, silver or bronze patinas.

I am rewriting the obelisk story as well and will share that with you all when it is completed and I have a few more obelisks to show too.

I think I knew this rendition was the one when I found these discerning little elf-fellows inspecting it verrrrrry closely!

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Just a minute to blog today (not even really but I AM trying to be consistent!) so here is something I just finished for Bewilder and Pine. A new "Stargazer" Fairy House complete with crescent moon, silver stars and a very big telescope protruding from the attic window!

I have plans for a few more featuring telescope with tiny gear wheels affixed under them but, for now, thisis the first of it's kind! Enjoy!!

Monday, September 15, 2014

I received an order for one of my Alpine Fairy Houses on Monday last week and, as I went to thank the buyer, I saw that they had left a message asking me if I could bill them for Express shipping on the package to guarantee two day arrival at it's destination.

I went immediately to respond to that request so I did not, at that time, take a look at to whom the package was for or where it was headed exactly but I did see that the zipcode was an east coast location.

It was only after I replied that I looked at the address in full and saw that it was being sent to the woman who is the Miss NY entrant at the Miss America pageant on the boardwalk at Atlantic City. This really made me smile.

I've had some well known people (entertainment field and otherwise) purchase or commission my work but this one really had a special feel to it. It is my understanding that the young women who are part of the pageant receive gifts from all over the world during pageant week and, though this would be just one among many, I was still delighted that the fairy realm was being called upon to lend it's magic to someone in this way too.

Short story shorter, package was sent, delivered two days later and, other than sharing the story with my local postmistress ( I asked for her help as the address came back as undeliverable when I went to print postage but that was simply due to it being a temporary address set up for all the gifts that arrive that week) I forgot the whole thing rather quickly.

Until this morning when a blurb on my homepage caught my eye. . . Miss NY is now Miss America. . . or is that Miss A-Fairy-ca? For lo, though they often are known to help with many human problems and grant a few wishes to the fairy-kissed among us, it seems that the little sprites of this house may have lent their magical hand in assisting one young lady's dream come true over the weekend. . . and as we all know, the fairies DO love a sparkly crown!

While I have no proof that they helped or were at all responsible. . . I am going to give them a WEE bit of credit anyway. :)

On a closing note, I know that many of the gifts given this week end up going to charities and, if that is the case with this house, I could not be happier knowing the next recipient will be reaping the reward of the same fairy magic, in some new way, one day very soon. :)

nicolas

Miss America can thank the inhabitants of this house for her new shimmery crown. . .

Sunday, September 14, 2014

I had no way of knowing when I was a child that the "Osirian" character of Sutekh from the Dr. Who, 4th Doctor Serial, "The Pyramids of Mars" would one day be a major part of the world I create now.

I am certain this Dr Who episode was shown around the same time I was given a book about the tour of the treasures of King Tuts tomb which were in America for the first time and my world opened to the first ancient civilization that would shape my imagination in ways I could not grasp.

The character of Sutekh that was out to destroy Tom Baker's Doctor with his bulky mummies frightened the 7 yr old me while the protective, anthropomorphic and animal creatures I found in the books of Ancient Egypt were presented in ways that made them feel more like companions of my own.

It was only in the last few years I understood that the Dr Who Sutekh and this fellow below, more commonly known as Set or Seth, were one and the same in origin. And since I have been creating Him in statue form for my shop, they have become one of the most requested which inevitably is due to Set's association with Chaos and Storms. So much a part of all youth isn't it?

There is still much mystery as to what exactly Set is derived from. . .

And I tend to stylize the often boxy ears a bit but I find Him to be a regal form. :)

So these days, when I make a statue of Set, I always think back to that wonderful time of discovery. As with so many of my creations, the past and present are inextricably linked. . .

If you have never seen The Pyramids of Mars, it is available as a streaming watch on Netflix under Classic Dr Who. I highly recommend it if you would like to know why Tom Baker is such an icon to fans of the show. He made every episode shine and in this one, he is at his very best. :)

So here's to Sutekh. . . Set. . . Seth. . . whatever you choose to call Him. a mystery and an inspiration for a lifetime. . . or several millennia. . . again, whichever you choose. :)
nicolas

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Amid the colorful and whimsical and the detail lush creations, these seem to be an odd-one-out you could say. But they have actually been around almost as long as Bewilder and Pine.

They began as an idea to combine simple symbols with a mini-monolith form. The stone titles all came from one of my favorite Taoist books, "365 Tao" which I also pulled from for inspiration about 20 years ago for a series of multimedia art shows where I invited 30 artists and dancers to interpret the one word titles from the book that I used in the show thru their own creative medium. It included, video, dance, painting, textile art, sculpture, poetry, spoken word and improvised movement . The music I wrote back then for the shows was also inspired by the one word titles out of this book.

So it is no surprise I turned to the book again to create something new.

The main thing I want to say here is that it has taken four years to really perfect these stones. I've tinkered with the symbols and even the words used for the set have changed a bit over time.

But last week I sold a set of all 11 and decided that they are, for now, "done"

So this is really the first time I've written about them. They quietly move thru the shop at a pretty good pace and often will sell in bunches with some people ordering one and some two or even three for their altars or for friends. Often I did not have the entire set available when I first introduced them as finding the time to remake them among all of my other projects was iffy at best. Now I just list them as in stock and make them to order as it only takes a day from start to finish do do them and I really feel I have them down.

I've also had people request custom stones for words of their choosing which I am always happy to dwell on and create. . . even one that was inspired by a symbol from the "Legend of Zelda" for a very sweet UK customer! :)

But it was just this week, after making the complete set and photographing them all together, that I realized they are indeed, "something". SO here they are, my own set of Taoist Meditation Stones. Inspired by many things but all my own. :)

nicolas

The entire set of 11 Taoist Stones

The Taoist stone for "Flow" and you just have to love an item that photographs so well in sunlight! :)

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Living in a coastal town that runs on the fishing industry means that the summers from Memorial day to Labor day are, as you might expect, overrun with tourists and fishing boats. RVers and campers.

Today, walking down to the bay at 8am with the tide at it's lowest, we went to cross the street and, by the time we hit the crosswalk, we realized that we have "our town" back again. Looking north and south down the road, there was just one single car visible as far as we could see.

And that, is a lovely thing. . .

The sound of the town is different these 9 months. You can hear the kingfishers, gulls, herons and terns all the way from the bay, the ravens and crows are a little more likely to come by in the mornings for bread again as the digs on the street are not nearly as good. The nights are a little less rowdy and the harbor itself, though still filled with boats as salmon season approaches, is decidedly quieter too.

In my life I have always been an autumn child. I'm willing to say some of it is the school year schedule that allows September to take on the feel of possibility and newness every year since.

Though I also think it is the change in weather,
The feel in the air.
The leaves beginning to turn
The shorter and shorter days

The change in season stirs my soul like very few things can and never more so than from the boisterous warmth of summer to the slowly turning and fading of Autumn all around me. . .

The creative fires burn brighter too in this air of Autumn alchemy
I could work round the clock in this season and dream endlessly of new things to make.

But the best part of all is, it all comes in on the blissful echo and the beauty of silences
As the season that subdues so many, brings the world here and within myself, back to life

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

These days I spend zero time working on new visual art. But the two or three times a moth I sell a print from my first Etsy shop, I am often reminded of the passion I once felt for creating it. I have written about it before. . . the visual art was my last great attempt to create "adult art" with adult meaning and life perspectives but, while it provided a wonderful creative outlet for my energy, and I am proud of everything I ever did that is listed, I look at it all now like diary entries really.

This morning I awoke to the sale of a print of this piece below called "The Bubble Factory"

I am instantly reminded of a few things.

Created in 2011, this was one of the last original pieces I made while living in the city of Portland. That industrial building was right outside our apartment's art studio room.

Over the two years living there my feelings about that building and view went from grateful as, at first, there was the beauty of the total lack of people. . . only birds came to visit that roof and our windows. . . eventually to feeling the ugliness of the utter lack of closeness to untouched nature. While it was better than staring at traffic or the masses, it still lacked soul. It was during that mood/time I created this image hoping to put a little magic back into the view and in city life.

And it was during that time I felt the entire shift inside to wanting magic all around me. . . all the time. . . whichever way I looked. And that feeling led us to live here

Ok, we do NOT live with this view out our window, our place in down there in the midst of that tiny town just across from the bay and marina. But the magic of this place. . . and seeing sights like these that follow, every day, were exactly what my soul needed. :)

Bewilder and Pine on Etsy

Shadow of the Sphinx on Etsy

My Antarctica on Etsy

It never began, it seems it just always was. . .

Imagination has been my constant companion since I was a child.
Never far from me.
Never forgotten.
Now, after spending so many years trying to "balance" a life of inherent creativity with the adult definitions of what a life "should" or "must" be, I am going all in and forging a road unfamiliar.
Making a living through reimagining and reworking the impressions of childhood magik. Seeing the foundation, thru the distance of the years, that formed my own boyhood heart and realizing that, in the grand scheme of things, to not walk this road now would be the only possible failure of my lifetime. Basically, I've set out making a life out of pleasing that inner child every day.
Thanks for coming along,
nicolas